When the Green Party revealed their manifesto ahead of the general election, they were the subject of much ridicule as they promised to abolish the monarchy and get rid of the army. However, the policy that perhaps gained the most attention was a pledge to ban rabbit hutches.
Now, even party officials appear to agree that the policy is somewhat mad. Speaking in a debate at the Left Field stage at Glastonbury, Green MEP Molly Scott Cato said the ‘loony policy’ was not created by officials, but instead was a result of their members having input in the manifesto:
‘We had a debate yesterday in the green field about why we have all those loony policies. Well, it’s because they’re the policies that people voted for in our party. The loony policy in question was actually about rabbit hutches.’
Cato says that the policy – along with its treatment by the media – was simply a by-product of people power. ‘If you are a democratic party this is what happens,’ she said after urging Labour party members to get more involved:
‘I think what Labour party members should do is make your party respond to what you want, and the Green Party invited members to get stuck into policy making because we’re a democratic party with democratic policies, so if that’s not the case you should change that.’
If they succeed, Mr S awaits Labour’s new policies with some hesitation.
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